INFPlus Ultra

...while you can. Monday is waiting.

This brief afterlife bit was pretty harsh, but damn did I laugh at the moment when Bojji face-slammed against the afterlife force-field.

Honestly, considering how much of the plot revolves around Bosse’s extremism, it’s really hard to figure him out. This flashback is the only moment where I felt any real sympathy for him, and it’s tough to gauge whether he’s crying over Miranjo, or his sense of helplessness, or the massacre he just committed. All three, probably, but he’s such an opaque character compared to much of the rest of the supporting characters. It’s a shame.

Meanwhile, Daida is just hanging out with his ghost night-light.

I didn’t expect to feel this bad for a freakin’ snake monster, but then again that’s Ranking of Kings’ whole deal: making you care for unlikely characters.

Seriously, Ouken feeding on poor Mitsumata is pretty horrific. Rendering the blood in a slightly different style seems to enhance the moment, too.

The Big Four going up against Ouken was like a classic DnD moment of each player pairing off and taking their moment against the boss NPC.

Classic moment of interrupting with a held action. Good tactics, Bebin!

Lovely exchange of skills with Domas, showing off a classic skill vs power matchup.

And Dorshe doing his thing, of course!

Hiling is such a fun surprise. For the first few episodes, you think she’s the evil stepmother, and then it dawns on the plot that she’s a woman and queen who tries her best, but often fails to communicate her sympathies properly. I hope she stays a main character in this show.

Love her very strict and severe pronouncement of forgiveness here.

Still got a few of those wicked stepmother vibes.

On the other hand, Miranjo’s backstory is so tear-jerking and sympathetic that it’s really hard to reconcile it with the mass-murdering and manipulative stuff that we see Miranjo being responsible for later.

There’s a lot of great determination moments in this anime. I love it when a hero takes a breath in the middle of a fight to sloppily patch himself up and then continue the fight.

Bojji’s emotional assault to break Ouken’s helmet is just such an awesome beat, really earning the singular image of Ouken looking fully stunned for once.

  I love getting this aside of Despa’s self-upbraiding doubts. He’s such an egotist it’s easy to overlook that he considers himself fatally inconsequential in his world. His pride and arrogance is a sort of courage, as he fights to maintain composure despite being surrounded by signs of his own frailty.

Ouken... has... the power!?

No?

Gotta love when the GM presents you with an RPG obstacle that clearly favors the skillset of one player, but then expects you to not separate the party...

And then when you try to use that to cheesily sidestep the boss, it’s all like..

(Basically, every time someone tries to fight Ouken)

Also, I love the combination of menace and humor in this moment. Big-bad just passing by... clearly he has someplace to be. Don’t mind him.

And like everyone else, Ouken has a crazy sad backstory. But his not only fleshes out his own character, but also that of his brothers Desha and Despa, and sets up the tension that the three brothers have a sort of rock-paper-scissors mechanic with knowing and exploiting each other’s weaknesses.

I love how we see Bojji step into the confidence in his abilities in this episode. First he makes Apeas nearly crap himself with his intimidating presence...

...Then he goes toe to toe with Ouken and makes everyone look like a chump in the process...

...Kage is still there to remind him he has a lot to learn, though.

Ranking of Kings is all about the power of emotions. The power to drive people to try and to strive, but also the power to twist people’s perspectives and warp their decision-making. It’s a great central element to every character arc, put into strict focus with Gigan’s backstory.

Watching basically mute Gigan boil over with rage and turn on his scumbag allies is a neat foil to the way Bojji has to cope with the failings and betrayals of people he had grown to trust.

Surprise, jackass!!

King Desha has such a marvelously quirky characterization in this show. At the start he’s a facile, dismissive jerk and an obvious bully. Then he moves on to becoming this figure of menace, but while maintaining a sort of professional air. The way he calls down the lightning to start a fight with someone he considers a chump, but then immediately pauses the game to take a phone call--it’s just great.

I love when my MCs aren’t afraid to slap themselves silly.

(Yes, I’ve had problems...)

So in the previous episode, we had Bojji’s grand entrance being impressive but practically invisible. Now Gigan is giving him a little help improving his visibility for his next grand entrance.

Domas had some real highs and lows this episode. From an epic showcase of his skills, with the Order of the Underworld bringing numbers and skills to bear on him...

Pour it on when someone’s watching you.

“No, I don’t need help carrying this all at once!”

To the agony of Desha’s surprise nut-shot. The bastard...

You’re only allowed to laugh if you’ve been laid out by a nut-shot before. The rest of you are going to hell.

I love this simple transition. Bojji is a hero: whether he’s a chump holding a cup or a badass with maxed out rapier skills, he’s trying his best to do what’s right.

Kage is a good friend. That’s all there is to it.

Only Dorshe would try to claim that his leg was holding him back.

Mondays be like...

What do you mean, you took healing rage?

Queen Healing in action.

Even after everyone is healed and made up, a true tank is always on duty. Dorshe is always on duty.

Seriously? You were just trying to eat her--no snuggles!

This is what happens when your cleric needs the fighter and the assassin to help out with the healing ritual...

In all sorts of storytelling media, you have moments where defeat is snatched from the jaws of victory, when the good guys are doing well they aren’t too bloodied, and they just might win without suffering too dearly.

Then a giant badass drops out of the sky, swipes left on your elite bodyguards, and makes your bestie rest in flapjacks...

It just makes it all the more fun when the tables turn and you get to see the bad guys lose all hope.

Also, Apeas is kind of just a stooge when he’s doing nothing but what Miranjo directly tells him to do.

Speaking of losing all hope... I love Bosse’s reaction here.

Uhhh....? 😂